Pasco again mulls aquatic facility

As Pasco’s population tops 70,000, the city is more than big enough to support a large public aquatic facility and an indoor recreation center, says a new feasibility study.

The market area is relatively young with a median age of 28 1/2 , compared with nearly 34 throughout the rest of the Tri-Cities.

Of Pasco’s 22,000 households last year, 17,000 are estimated to be families.

And the city’s population “is expected to continue to grow at a strong rate,” according to Ballard*King & Associates.

The Colorado firm recently completed a market analysis for the Pasco Public Facilities District as the entity revisits the idea of building an aquatic center to serve the greater Mid-Columbia area.

The public will get its first look at the 63-page report at 4 p.m. July 19 at the facility district’s board meeting in Pasco City Hall’s council chambers, 525 N. Third Ave.

The study will be posted on the city’s website after Tuesday.

The regular board meeting is in conjunction with the Park & Recreation Advisory Board to begin considering initial cost estimates and schematics. Pasco council members also have been invited.

Ultimately, the decision will be up to the city council to ask Pasco voters to support a tax-subsidized public facility.

“There’s a lot of discussion that needs to take place before a final decision is made. … I think that vote is (probably) at least a year away,” Deputy City Manager Stan Strebel told the Herald.

Public comments will be taken at the facilities district meeting. However, if the proposal moves forward, there will be scheduled community meetings before the council as the it works to choose a location and the best design, Strebel said.

“This is just the first of many, many steps along the way. Nothing is imminent at this point,” he added. “It’s designed to try and develop a rough budget and a concept in order to … gauge the level of community support for such a facility.”

The facilities district board voted unanimously in February to spend $39,5000 on the study. The consultants came up with three scenarios.

▪  Option A is an indoor and outdoors aquatics center.

▪  Option B would add a space for a community room, fitness and group exercise areas and child care.

▪  Option C would swap the community center for a gymnasium and include the rest of the so-called “dry amenities” listed in Option B.

The total cost on each one hovers around $20 million, which is the district’s bonding capacity without a public vote.

However, the project still would require a public vote on an increase in the sales tax to support the facility, Strebel explained.

“While an aquatic center may have a draw within the greater Tri-Cities area, it is anticipated that the ‘dry side’ amenities will primarily appeal to Pasco residents,” the study said.

Strebel explained that the Pasco Public Facilities District decided to revisit this topic after seeing that a 2013 effort for a regional aquatic facility and water park was supported by Pasco voters.

The ballot measure for a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase, organized by the Tri-Cities Regional Public Facilities District, was rejected by voters in Kennewick and Richland.

The Pasco board wants to be responsive to its residents and look at a water attraction that can serve the community, benefit the larger region and draw in more visitors, he said.

“It is almost impossible to imagine that in a market area of over 220,000 people, that there is not a single indoor public or nonprofit pool,” the new study said. “The closest public indoor pools are located to the south in Hermiston, Ore., or to the northwest in Yakima.”

The consultants note that the “first true indoor competitive pool” — a 25-yard pool with 10 lanes — that’s large enough to host a significant swim meet is farther north at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

The Tri-Cities does have a significant number of outdoor public pools, including one each in Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, and aquatic playgrounds with splash pads or other water features.

However, private health clubs have had to take on “the unusual role of being the primary provider of indoor aquatic facilities” for the public, as well as for most swim teams, the study said.

One market constraint for the project is that user fees being paid at most facilities for recreational swimming are at the low end of the spectrum, which “will not allow for a more aggressive fee structure at a new Pasco facility,” according to the study.

The consultants concluded that an aquatic facility likely will not be able to cover its cost of operation by revenues generated from the facility.

“The extent of the operational loss will be dependent on the amenities that are ultimately included in the facility and the mix between aquatic and ‘dry side’ amenities,” the study said.

To be financially viable, it must focus on: recreational swimming with slides, interactive play features and a shallow pool and traditional aquatic activities like lap swimming, competitive swimming, lessons and fitness.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Pasco again mulls aquatic facility."